The Lord is my shepherd…
Over the course of 48 years of life I’ve been known by a lot of different titles. I’ve been John the friend, John the student, John the teacher. People have known me as a coworker, classmate, supervisor, pastor, and counselor. Perhaps my favorite titles are John the husband and John the father. Each one of those titles speaks to the way I have related to someone. They are unique descriptors of personal relationships. Everyone can’t call me their classmate, only those who went to school with me.
While I try to be friendly to everyone, only a few can call me friend.
I am the husband of only one and the father of only three.
The name you call me is by and large based on the relationship we share.
Psalm 23 is one of my favorite passages of scripture. Not very lengthy but it is full of comfort, encouragement, and conviction. David wrote this psalm probably while he was king, later in his life. That would make it around 3000 years old or so. By the time David had written this, he had plenty of time to reflect on his relationship with God. He had seen the Lord move in powerful ways. From the time of his youth facing a giant, to God protecting him as King Saul continually tried to kill him off, to God leading him when he became a king himself. There were lots of things David could have called God and been entirely correct. God is my provider, God is my healer, God is my leader. But David settled on a title that I think really hit home for him. A name that had great meaning for him.
The Lord is my shepherd.
David knew a thing or two about shepherds. While shepherds were common in that day and area, David was especially familiar with who a shepherd was. After all, he had been a shepherd himself. He knew the special relationship between a shepherd and his sheep. He understood the protection and care that a good shepherd provided the sheep under his watch. When David looked at his life and the continual care that the Lord had poured over his life, he related it to that of a shepherd caring for his sheep.
The Lord was the shepherd, and David was the sheep.
This psalm flows out of David’s understanding of his special relationship with the Lord. And while it is special, it is neither unique nor exclusive just to David. All those who have trusted in Jesus are able to enjoy what we’ll observe in this Psalm. While there are a lot ways you can identify with the Lord today, let’s start with seeing Him as your shepherd. This week we’ll dig in to what that means for you and I to say the Lord is my shepherd…
Questions for Today:
- What titles are you known by and what does that say about the relationships you hold?
- What are some ways you relate to God? If you were to give him a title based on your current relationship, what would it be?
- When you think about shepherd imagery, what immediately comes to mind? Where do those thoughts spring from?
Prayer for Today:
Lord thank you for your personal relationship with me. Thank you for being a God who loves me and chooses to be up close and personal in my life. Help me today begin to see you as the shepherd of my life. Lead me toward where you want me to go. Guide my thoughts and my steps as I seek to be obedient to you. I may not have it all together quite yet, but continue to mold me into what you created me to be. To You be the glory.
Amen.
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